Tag Archives: Photoshop

I’ve mentioned it before, but as I had a specific request for editable PDFs, I wanted to take a moment to show the example the anonymous commenter asked for, demonstrated with one of my printables that seems to match her needs. The comment said:

Just a thought, is it possible to make the PDFs editable e.g. if you wanted to personalise the quotations for someone? I noticed someone made something similar using circular calendar tags when wrapping a present and highlighted the person’s actual birthday which looked cool. That’s how I found your website – I was searching for a template (editable) ! xx

The program I use doesn’t create editable PDFs, like a Photoshop or PSE layers file. As I create and share freebies, I’m not itching to have to buy something that does. You can’t do it with the free Acrobat. But there ARE tools that I know are in the Mac Preview program, and I would guess there must be something similar in the Windows version. I SAY that, but I don’t always believe it LOL! which is why I use a Mac and not a PC. But in THIS case I feel pretty confident it has to be there. If I show you how *I* do it, you will know what to look for and hopefully be able to do it. I’ll pop the steps for PSE on at the bottom so jump there if you have and use that.

The first thing is to open the PDF in whatever PDF viewer you have. As I said, on a Mac, it’s Preview. You MAY have to right-click OPEN WITH > Preview, if your default PDF viewer is Adobe. I am using one of the circular calendars. I used the bigger one, but for tags, the smaller 4-to-a-page version might work better. And that post has a link for the Monday to Sunday version as well. You decide.

1. Open the PDF and select the page you want to edit. Either File > Save As > Give it a new name OR drag the page you want over onto the desktop so you don’t overwrite the original file.

2. You can see on the drop-down menus all the options

but clicking ANNOTATE in the top bar also brings up most of the tools in an icon bar in Preview.

The oval can be used to create the circle, and a drop down menu lets you pick the colour of the circle. The box with the A in it adds the text and the font window can be opened from that to pick the font, size, and colour.

I rotated the page so it was easier to work on without getting a crick in my neck. You can rotate back to print.

3. Edit to add what you like. For this example, the Happy Birthday message and the date circled.

I would just print the sheet then punch or cut the circle out, punch a hole and tag done. Close without saving if you edited the original rather than dragging the page or duplicating the file!

You could instead use the circle as a card topper for a QUICK card that looks like it was a lot of effort but isn’t.

Other ideas? Maybe use the arrow tool instead of the circle. Or edit the month for a special day (Mother’s day, Christmas, Valentines Day) and highlight the date. Copy just that month onto a blank sheet (use the SELECT tool and Copy > Paste) to make a sheet full of circles for multiple cards or tags

Editing PDFs in Photoshop Elements

I’ve done similar before, but I know people struggle sometimes to translate generic instructions into specific tasks so I’ll go thru it again.

1. Open the PDF in Photoshop Elements. If it is a multi-page PDF you can only open a single page.

It’s hard to see but page 3 is slightly highlighted with a black border. Clicking OK opens that page only. PSE also rasterizes the file. Google it if you care. In the top menu bar, FILE > DUPLICATETHE single PAGE AND CLOSE THE ORIGINAL PDF so you don’t mistakenly ruin the original.

2. Zoom in on the item you want to edit. Add a NEW LAYER with the Layers menu. Using the marquee tool (the “marching ants” over November 19th) draw your selection on the new layer. (You can also use the circle SHAPE (there at the right) if you prefer – just drag it over. It’ll be too big probably, but it will be created on its own layer. FREE TRANSFORM IT to change the size. I just think it’s easier the other way)

Usually the STROKE option will be active, but to capture the screen grab it isn’t. You can make it bigger or smaller, and pick your colour.

3. Add the text box, select and type your text.

Print. You don’t even need to save it if you aren’t going to use it again and again.

Personally, I think the tools in Preview are far easier. If someone who has a PC knows how to do what I did on the Mac, do share. I make pick DH or DS’s brain. They both use PCs a bit and might be able to help.

I really should so a workflow capture of the process but when I do I always mess up if it is a longer process. I’ll experiment. If I can work it out I’ll do a Quicktime movie and share. Then I only have to sort out a mic for the Mac. <sigh>

Like this:

…but I thought it might crystallize it in my mind and as you have been so helpful with your opinions I figure it’s only fair to share.

I worked thru a number of options for the colour of the photo. The blue was felt by many to be too cold. I do like it, don’t get me wrong, but it wasn’t a difficult thing to try a few more options. Seeing them all side-by-side I thought might help me really SEE which one I preferred.

What that shows is (clockwise from the top left) standard sepia in PSE, antique effect in iPhoto, standard B&W in PSE, and Sepia effect in iPhoto.

Now, the antique version matches most closely the tone of the Tim Holtz papers, the pumice stone option rather than the blue.

It could be slightly warmer but overall it is my favourite, I think.

The B&W version is OK too, although I think it has less definition – the Convert to B&W in PSE is a but of a sledgehammer, IYKWIM. I think you see that most clearly in the folds and creases of GFs jacket.

And the other two sepia versions are overall maybe too warm. But not the iPhoto sepia holds the same definition

and the PSE sepia is less so:

I still like all the words, but then I like text and think more is better 99% of the time LOL! But I’ve a lot of time invested in this mini and I am not willing to rush the decision just to have it done. I may take it with me to my crop tomorrow and see what people think seeing it IRL, but I am pretty sure it will be DONE done by Monday.

Cheers to all who voted and commented, either here or on PollDaddy – while I am never one to do something just because other people like it, I am certainly not so dim that I can’t agree to look at suggestions and see if they really are an improvement. A few people did say that, at the end of the day, it’s MY book and I need only please myself, but it is helpful to know WHY they suggest a different version, then to see it in action. So thanks for that. I promise I WILL move on from this…soon….

Like this:

I am off at the WOYWW crop today (WooHoo!) but I know there are at least a couple of people awaiting the CD calendar PDFs. You are welcome to wait till I get to them, which I HOPE will be this week, but if you don’t want to wait, or if you want to change my calendars slightly to make them more your own, or just more your style, this is an easy way to do it.

I use PSE 10 but I think these will work for older versions.

First let’s talk about the fonts. I used a decorative font for the Month name and the year, at the top. BUT I used a pretty plain font for the days of the week. My thought here was that people could d a minimal amount of work to alter the month names and year but keep the basic, white-bread font for the days and still get something they like better.

IF you want to use my PDFs but have a different font for the headers:

1. Open the PDF with Photoshop Elements (or some similar program). I do this by right-clicking and selecting Open With > PSE. The multi-page PDF will open and you can select the page you want to work on in the thumbnail view.

Click FILE > duplicate then close the original and work on the copy.

2. Select the Marquee tool and draw a box around the Month and year.

3. Delete.

Now, do not be worried that the deleted area has had the white removed! Your printer does not recognize white – it translates that to NO INK. In effect it is only going to print the (in this case) brown of the letters and ignore the rest. Oh, and the little red cut line guides. If you want, you can remove them in the same way – mark a selection around them and delete.

4. Select the Horizontal Type Tool and draw a text box – then go to the top bar and set your font, size, and colour. Type in the month word and the year.

I couldn’t capture it properly but if you click the equivalent of the BROWN BOX at the top on this screenshot, you will bring up the colour picker. It will be in the same place, but yours will be whatever your Foreground colour is set to, likely black. If you click the eye dropper that pops up on one of MY word or number bits, it will match my colours. Likewise, you could leave the numbers brown or black, and make the heading any colour you want!

5. Carry on editing the Months and Year bits and when it is all as you like it, name it something sensible and SAVE AS then select PDF in the Format drop down.

Save it and now you can print your own version with the new font you have used!

Now as I was sorting this bit out I realized that to make your own CD calendar sheets really isn’t HARD, but it does take a few different steps. I’ll list them, because if you are the kind of person who is not inclined to do it, you’ll just skip over it – and if you are, then the steps, following on from what I have already said, will make sense. The former will wait till I make them and the latter will do it themselves LOL!

Open the PDF and duplicate it. Close the original.

Create a new file, either A4 or US letter and set it to LANDSCAPE (lengthwise) because the standard size for a CD calendar is 5 x 4.75 inches

Back on the PDF, select the entire month block with the Marquee tool . Copy – either using the Edit menu or Command-C (for me on my Mac)

Go to the blank file and Paste it. Go back and copy the next month and Paste that in the blank file as well. Rotate each layer so there are 2 side by side months. Align and either print it now (in which case you can carry on using the SAME blank file as you create each 2-month page) or Save it as JanFeb then open a new blank file for MarApr, etc. You can save as a PDF, or as a .jpg – I’m not sure it matters. Carry on till you have all 12 months, two to a page. Print them all and trim to the correct size.

I can’t speak to other editing programs but I hope you can translate the steps to whatever you use.

And it this sort of thing makes you glaze over, next week I’ll hopefully have a nice simple download for you.

Like this:

I was playing around with paints and made a small ATC sized art journal sample piece. I am new to all this so I really was just having a play. I just used a couple of colours, and some white, and a plasterers texture scraper – it’s a bit like a credit card on one edge but the other has some saw-tooth like notches. The thing is, my craft mat was a bit messy and the scrapper, which I use a lot, had some residual ink and other muck on it, so scraping it across the sample left bits of other colours, of black ink, of all kinds of stuff. This is what it looks like in its natural state:

And just a bit closer so maybe you can see the texture of it:

I was looking at it and really, really liked it. But I know from experience there was no way I was ever going to be able to duplicate it, or even get close. Sure, I might make another one, but it may not be as nice – it could be better, but chances are it won’t be, ’cause life’s like that. So I thought how might I capture it to make good use of it? It’s only 2.5 x 3.5 so nt a lot that can be done with it in that small size. I thought about the printables that I make and thought what if I use my own sample to create something that uses the sample as the colour, rather than a flat colour fill?

I first scanned my small sample at 300 dpi. I opened that in PSE, as well as a blank file. Then I set about creating a number of border-y things – rows of triangles, scallops, banners (mostly by tiling the Shape Tool images to fit across the page) in black. I dragged in my sample then did the Create Clipping Mask thing to fill the black with my sample. Cool.

I also did the more simple Select>Paste for some plain circles.

I love the look of the checkerboard edges (I love them on my scrapbook pages too, and have lots of that sort of paper collected) so I also made a strip of solid black and solid white squares. I aligned the squares. selected just the black, then just the white, doing a Merge Visible on each group. Then I filled the white ones with black too, and added the Texturizer on them, just so they didn’t look quite so flat. Did the same clipping mask command to fill one set with my sample then staggered the two strips (one black, one with my sample) to create a checkerboard.

Here’s what they look like printed!

I can now print them and cut them out to use them on anything I like. I did take the further step to copy over the two black box strips to another file and saved it as CHECKERBOARD. That way I can drag over anything else I want, to create that pattern with ease. I did the one, then duplicated it so I had three of them, but in future I think I would make different ones so the coloured areas aren’t the same on all three – the idea was to be able to create a longer strip, and I can still alter them a bit by copying over the strips and flipping them or overlapping bits so they a double-length strip isn’t just the same “pattern” side-by-side, but it would be easier to create different strips for more variety.

So from a small 2.5 x 3.5 sample. I now have a full sheet of collage clips – and one that I can mess about with, doing colour variations, for example, to create even more fun stuff.

It only took about an hour to do so no reason I wouldn’t do this for any sample that I make that I really like. And I expect I will play about a bit more with the tools and techniques before I decide if the whole art journal thing is for me. I am feeling too splintered at the moment, with scrapbooking, making printables, art journaling, even making cards and ATCs all fighting for dominance in my head space. Something has to give, but in my heart of hearts I know scrapbooking is likely to win out.

It’s interesting. I wonder if the art journaling thing is a more honest expression of who some of us scrapbookers are as (dare I say it? Yep.) artists? MOST scrappers I know say they make their pages for their kids, for their family, as a record of their lives. But as time goes on, some of them have also said to me, almost as if it is sacrilegious, that they really scrapbook for themselves, as an artistic expression that happens to use family photos.

Maybe it’s almost as an excuse for making time for art, as if they need to justify it with the higher purpose of doing it “for the kids.” Now I am IN NO WAY saying that is true for every scrapbooker, but I do wonder if the progression of some scrappers from layouts to art journals (which tend to be by, for, about, the creator – I mean if there is an art journaler out there who is journaling someone ELSES life, I’ve yet to stumble across them!) is because the kids grow up, move out, move on, and all of a sudden there is this gap where the reams of photos each month dwindle to a handful, the grandparents have enough mini-books to keep them happy, and there you are. A scrapper with few photos to scrap (unless you are happy to live in the past and catch up on all the unscrapped photos from years back) and all this creative energy with no outlet.

It’s hard (at least it is for me) to make the shift to scrapping stuff I care about, or aspects of my life. I am in awe of Shimelle because she does it so easily. Is it because she started out scrapping her own life? Is it harder to go back and adjust your focus, and is art journaling easier because you are beginning fresh, with a new purpose? I am just FULL of questions today! But that is enough. I’m clearly in an introspective mood and maybe THAT has to do with considering art journaling as well! I’ll leave it, but if you have thoughts on this, comment and let me know.

I have to quickly document this for you. I posted it on UKS but realized I really didn’t mention it here, and it makes all the difference in using your calendar master file.

I realized that making the master was all well and good, but if I had to change the font and/or font size in every cell of a gajillion layer file it was going to negate a lot of the work that went in to it. So I had a hunt for info. I used to be a librarian. My job was doing searches for the engineers on their research topics. The one thing it taught me that has been useful was HOW to search for things in order to find what you want. It isn’t always a matter of just plunking a few keywords into Google and trolling through the results in the hopes one of them has what you want. This post was the top hit in my search and it was EXACTLY what I needed. Note that it tells you this is a Photoshop feature, but it certainly worked for me in PSE. But note this: at various places I’ve seen that for a Mac you should use the Apple option key to select multiple layers but I cannot seem to make that work.

Basically, what this allows you to do is create your calendar master and then, with just a few clicks, change the font for everything. At once.

The trick is to select multiple layers. I do this on my Mac in a couple of different ways. If I am clever, and re-organize my layers so all the MONTH NAMES are grouped, all the DAY NAMES are grouped, and all the single cells that are the DAY NUMBERS are grouped, I select the MOVE tool, then can click the first layer in the Layers window list, go to the last layer, and with the shift key held down, click that layer. That selects those two layers ALL the layers between as well. I can also hold down the SHIFT key and click on any layers I want in my selection but that is best done with just a few things (like the year bits, for example) and likewise I can select things by holding down the shift key and dragging a selection box around the items. This works best for things like the vertical date strips, for example, if you wanted to align the along the right edge rather than centered under the day name.

Then, with the shift key still held down, I click the TEXT tool. That brings up the little bar at the top showing my font info.

I can then set the new font name, and size, and any other info (like whether I want the text centered in the text box or not) and effect the change across all the layers I’ve selected! This corrects the problem of needing to have everything in the same font size, as I can select just the month names in my file, or just the day name strips and change them to the font I want and keep them bigger or make them smaller.

I created a folder I call FONT CHANGE TRIO – this has three files, each one with 4 months. I don’t mind having to change each of the three as PSE seems to like it better when I do a smaller group – although it will handle the whole gajillion layer sheet, it takes it a moment or two. Yes, I’ve tried it. And it does work.

I think this trick is a fab one for so many things. If I were a digital designer, for example, and I wanted to change the font and colour used across multiple layers of a sheet of tags, for example, I could do it in one step, if I had grouped all the text layers together in the layers palette. Everything else would remain unchanged.

It should be obvious that you can’t merge or simplify the layers or this won’t work. But if you have Photoshop or PSE, give it a go. Create a file with 10 layers, and try changing the layers in group – change the colour and size on some, the font and colour on others, change all of them in one go, etc.

Cool, humm?

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My series of interesting disasters continues. I had a layout that I began at one crop and didn’t finish. Why, you ask? Well I had a title (Dress Up) and was missing an R. So I had looked a the sheet, and decided I could cut down an extra u/n to make an R. All well and good. I was sitting at the crop and grabbed the letter to cut down, but clearly I was to involved in chatting to realize that what I was cutting was my P, which I also needed! I did have a moment of pause when I looked at what I was cutting and thought “hummm – that tail is too long for an r.. how am I going to fix that?” and then when I got halfway thru the cut I looked again and went … well I won’t say what I said, but regular crop ladies will know, as I say it a LOT and they think it sounds very American, sometimes even imitating my accent as they giggle.

So fast forward a week. Took the same layout to the next crop (who am I kidding? yes, I did mean to finish it, but the reason it went with me was I hadn’t unpacked my bag from the previous week yet) and as I dumped it out on the table I realized that I hadn’t put in the extra letter to replace the butchered P. That word again. Begins with B. The British version also begins with B but is much longer…. I thought, OK, I’m pretty sure I have either another P or a d at home so I’ll be careful to leave enough space and add it later. Merrily went on my way and finished, mostly, then when I got home had a look for that “I’m sure I have” P or d … and guess what? NO P – NO d. That word again, louder and with more emphasis. I managed to cut the round bit off a q to make the round bit of the P, and used the stem of the original P, and it’s not horrible but it will always annoy me.

And I spent the vast majority of the day yesterday, while a lovely pork roast was cooking quietly in the oven (Jamie recipe, I think, but I ripped it out of the Sunday paper a week or so back, seeing it used 20 fresh bay leaves and a cup of red wine vinegar. It just sounded weird but potentially wonderful, and it was) determined to sort out the colour issues. Wish I had some idea what went wrong to change how it’s always worked – create, print basically. Now I have this weird other step that I have to add in a menu in the printer dialog box that I have NEVER looked at before.

Just a few sample prints of some colourful circles, with the various settings noted (and believe me, there are more sheets like this) and in the end I did sort it out but not in a way I am happy with. I re-calibrated the monitor, but really the ONLY way I can get what I see on the screen to be what prints out is to use sRGB settings (which are really MONITOR settings and not really what I would choose to use for PSE or Photoshop) and let PSE control the printing. I think.

Like this:

Well, there is something HOT in the scrapbooking world and it’s SMASH books. Rumblings in forums are that the shipping and availability on them is taking some time, and the natives are restless. Lots of people over at UKS are making their own, and I wanted to as well, so yesterday I did.

Using a collection of a few things, all black and white and a bit of kraft, I cut my papers and using Staples divider cards made tabbed pages. The size of the book was sort of determined by a couple of things. First, cutting A4 paper quickly and easily. Second, the size of the divider cards. It’s more or less 5 x 8. I added envelopes too. Some of the papers are from a pad I got that is black (thin) paper with silver lines on it. Also some grid paper from a school notebook. I’m not much bothered about the weight of it, as it will be covered with all the bits and bobs I run across in mags and newspapers, flyers, brochures, etc. I collect A LOT of stuff, and usually have a pile of torn out scraps on my desk – books I want to read. movies to see, restaurant reviews, cool products, eye-catching colour combos, stuff I think I could make myself, all that. This seems the perfect place to collect it all and have a handy place to go when I need a reminder of something I saw. I am forever coming across scraps years later and saying Oh yeah – I wanted that….

Not bound yet, but hopefully today.

Part of what kept me so busy yesterday was the little folded cards on the left. I had the brilliant idea to use some printable business cards to make Smash book additions myself – I was thinking journaling spots, sort of, places for lists, etc. The cards come on a printable sheet where they are attached but not permanently stuck IYKWIM. Well, I spent a totally frustrating day looking everywhere for a PhotoShop template with all the placement exact for the card I was using. The site itself has only MS Word templates (hate Word) and the sheet that came with the cards had all the measurements on it. Surprise, surprise, when I entered them into the Photoshop file as guides and printed a sample, they did NOT line up at all. I have a printer that prints borderless A4 so they SHOULD have but no.

So I fudges the guide lines a little, leaving a 5mm border above and below the break between cards and created then then printed, popped them off the backing and for some I folded them (to cover the tabs on the divider cards) and others I left as additions. way cool. I’ll probably do more. They have a good weight and are already rounded on the corners.

Most of them have space for my own writing, which will be important on the black pages. I’ll probably use the cool closure I have been keeping track of for a few years, which you can find here.

It will be a great way to incorporate a black and a white pen. Maybe even a glue stick. SOMEWHERE I have a tiny pair of scissors that I can add in some way, perhaps a slide holder or small plastic baggie, for adding stuff on the go.

I am looking forward to having all my bits in one place. Funny, but as soon as I read about the Smash books the first thing I thought was it’s sort of a Pintrest board in paper form, without the sharing. It also makes me wonder if there is a circle journal idea in there somewhere – make your smash book, send it or drop it off with a mate, let them add THEIR cool thing they think you will love, and then give it back.

I still have another idea, equally as annoying as working out the business cards, I’m sure, that I want to play with. More on that llater….

Like this:

My kids have rarely taken a great school photo. There have only been one or two over the years that I would say were ones I would want multiple copies of. DD is particularly bad – she is usually gor a fake grin plastered on her face, her eyes are drifting off to look anywhere but the lens, she sticks out her tongue A LOT and her glasses tend to slip down her nose and the top of the frame crosses her eyes.

This year, she had three possible shots – none were great, but there were elements of all three that might add up to a decent photo. We got all of them as digital images, and as luck would have it my ever-so-clever FIL was here when they arrived. FIL had showed me a very very brief demo of something he learned in Photoshop (he has something like CS5 while I still reside in the land of PS7) using the AUTO ALIGN function that is designed to make one good photo from a series of group photos where not everyone looks good in any one single shot. It involves, from what I can understand, layering the images over one another and erasing bits to let other bits show thru. He used it to mix and match various bits of the three not-great photos to create a single pretty good photo.

He took these:

(looking off to the side, hunched shoulders but good eyes, good smile but glasses in the way)

and created this:

I think that is pretty amazing. I will have to ask him if there is a link to a tutorial that I can share, because all I really know is what I’ve said here. It feels more “real” than just Photoshopping with any other technique, I guess because you really aren’t altering the person at all, just mixing and matching the best bits from any group of photos.

Like this:

I have been playing around with some digital paper and the De Louisville font (font of the week this week on UKScrappers), which is the one MME uses on the Quite Contrary stickers (or at least it looks an awful lot like it) I love the stickers and the funky font, but obviously prefer to have the patterns and colours match whatever paper I have, not just the line it is commercially available as. So I experimented. As usual, with my old PS 7, what I do is unlikely to be what someone with a newer PS or PSE would do but it works for me!

Basically I typed the text, then adjusted it to FAUX BOLD using the Character and Paragraph palettes box, just to thicken it up a bit. I opened the patterned paper (Future Rockstar, from a 2Peas kit by Chris Ford) and dragged it over the letter layer then Grouped with Previous. Merge Visible and then I can either grab just the letters I want and use them as digital letters for digi layouts OR I can print and cut them out if I prefer or print them on to clear sticker paper and use them that way. I would cut them on the Craft Robo, or on the Cricut using SCAL if I wanted to use actual paper rather than digital paper (or I could print the digital paper on to cardstock and then cut THAT out) so it’s all dependant on the particular application for the letters as to how I do it.

On of the things I love about scrapping NOW vs scrapping back when I started to do so 10+ years ago is that there are so many tools and techniques out there, most of which I bet I never stumble across, that let me customize my layouts and my minibooks in my own way. And basically I just like to figure our how to do my own version of stuff, even if I never use it. It keeps me from looking at the pile of post-holiday laundry just over my shoulder in the kitchen, if nothing else…….

Like this:

Oh the holidays are so busy for us all, aren’t they? But every time I start to have a little twinge of guilt that I am ignoring my blog and instead spending time working on last minute gifts (dearest DD sprung on me she fully expected a set of school uniforms for her dolls (eight of them, seven made by me, with varying degrees of technical success but with 100% approval ratings from her) for the mythical “Sunshine Lane school” they all attend while DD is at school, as well as “the new doll” I only just found out is expected) or cuddled up on the sofa with DD watching some old classic like The Secret Garden or Wallace and Gromitt, or seeing DS perform his newest card trick, I end up (quite rightly, I think) pushing it to one side.

But I fairly recently got a copy of the newest PSE for the Mac, and have been playing around with it. It really is quite powerful for the price. I was getting a bit fed up with seeing great brushes out there and not being able to take advantage of them if they didn’t also come as a .PNG file.

One of the places that prompted me to get PSE was Mel’s Brushes. Wow. Mel is from Gloucestershire, here in the UK, and is a graphic designer, art workshop leader and video artist. I love her brushes. Check out the brush index on her old site, as well as her “newer” blog. There are tutorials as well as lots of other links. I thought would first ease my twinges of guilt by sharing, then go back to the sofa with DD. And I resolve to keep those twinges at bay till the new year.